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The Lord's Donkey and the Lord's Due: (Luke 19:28 - 44)

The Lord's Donkey and the Lord's Due: (Luke 19:28 - 44)

By Roger Salter
Special to VIRTUEONLINE
www.virtueonline.org
May 2, 2016

The Predestined Donkey

As in every passage of Holy Scripture there is great insight to be gained if the Lord deigns to come alongside, open our eyes, and point out what we would not normally see. Patience and prayer. What could the tale of a donkey teach us about the Eternal? As the wonderful Bishop Joseph Hall informs us there is nothing in creation that cannot be turned to profitable meditation upon the ways of God. Even when evil impinges upon our minds it is a stark reminder of the holiness of God and the distance between fallen creatures and his blessed self. An alarm is loudly sounded and we are urged to hurry back to him while the day of mercy lasts.

Jesus' instructions to his disciples concerning the colt awaiting the Master's triumphal entry into Jerusalem yield so much information to ponder.

So much truth concerning the God-man is disclosed in the few words he speaks to his disciples. We are enabled to see Jesus' calm preparation under extraordinary pressure and his willingness to comply with the will of the Father in the tragic events to follow. Events do not entrap him. He foresees them and the will of the Father ordains them. Here is the Lamb presenting himself for the sacrifice: "But a body you prepared for me . . . I have come to do your will , O God (Hebrews 10:5-7).`` Jesus has full cognizance of the coming ordeal and he sees to it that everything is well ordered in a fashion characteristic of the divine purpose in all its aspects. The Lord in his speech and action shows us the divine attention to detail.

Such a realization awakens us to the necessity of paying keen attention to the details of Holy Scripture. They are there in their teeming thousands and should be carefully scrutinized. Such is the case with the untying of the young donkey. It is a narrative that shows us the command and compassion of our perfect Saviour, The favoured creature was entirely his, it had been reserved for him, and he would be its first rider. Such was the divine intent from all eternity. D.B. Knox apprises us of this in the following comment: "This is not reflected in most English versions. The Greek of Luke 19:33 reads, translated literally, And as they were untying the colt its masters (kurioi) said to them, 'Why are you untying the colt?' And they said, 'Because its Master (kurios) has need . . . The contrast between the human owners and Jesus is clear in the Greek." (Selected Works, Vol 1, Page 98. Matthias Media, Sydney, 2000).

The lowly colt was groomed as the bearer of the Lord Jesus with special and personal care. It was not at all apprehensive when Jesus sat astride it. Master and donkey knew each other. The hand of its Creator conditioned it to quietness and docility. The colt was peaceful on its mission of peace (vv30-34). Gentle Jesus!

As Jesus enters the city he encounters a mixed welcome. The overwhelming response is a repeated chorus of praise from the eager crowd. Their enthusiasm towards the Messiah is overt, but mingling among the people are evil envious men whose dark musings are cruel and covert until the right time to spring upon their voluntary victim arrives (v39). We can never tell who is among us with brooding hostility to the Lord but we can be sure that somewhere in the midst of the people of God there are plotters for the downfall of the faith. We mustn't be nervous or overly suspicious, but certainly watchful - especially of insistent volunteers. It is the duty of Christian leaders to discern wisely the Lord's calling of his genuine servants.

The Lord's Due

There is great magnificence in Jesus' approach to the city and his impending death.

Never was a royal rider so regnant in the circumstances through which he passed. He knew the fading excitement of crowds and also that however sincere they may have been at the time of their gathering, dispersal weakens their influence. He fully comprehended the fierce indignation of the bulk of the religious leadership. It is not cynicism to cast a careful eye over the declarations and deeds of folk in charge. They are always subject to mixed motivation and can move with great cunning - commercially, politically, and ecclesiastically. We must reserve our trust.

The dignity and integrity of Jesus is unimpeachable. Tears fill our eyes at the innocence of Jesus as evil men watch his progress and begin to cast their net. How beautifully and serenely Jesus claims his due as the donkey makes its rhythmic way along the fateful route its Master must ride (incidentally Jesus' calm coaching and control must have countered any tendency to panic in the faithful beast's behaviour in an unfamiliar and unnerving environment).

When some of the Pharisees in the crowd rebuked the disciples and followers of the Lord for the acclamation of his noble Person and purpose Jesus remarks as his sovereignty inevitably dictated. "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." The Pharisees in their folly failed to recognize who was riding by and they had the Old Testament witness to advise them (Zechariah 9:9). If men are stone dead to the status of the Lord Jesus then, says Jesus figuratively - though by the divine power it is possible literally - stones will refute their stubborn silence. Cracks will open in their rocky constitution and in a state of miraculous transformation and animation they will cry out their adulation of the Lord. Jesus is emphasising his heavenly loftiness over all things and if living beings will withhold their recognition and homage then even dumb creation will sing out in unison in protest at the wicked silence of sinful men whose evil souls are as dead as stone. The song of the stones would defy their dumbness and contain concurrent rejoicing and rebuke.

What tremendous power and authority are conveyed to us in the brief statement of the Lord Jesus. We ought to quake before him and yet draw comfort from him.

O, how desperately deluded bishops and elders may sometimes be. Learned but lousy theologians. Blind leaders of the blind. DDs of the Ditch of Destruction.

Final Deduction

But in the face of the gathering storm Jesus' disposition is remarkable. Jesus' weeping is not for himself but for a city and populace that did not register "the time of God's coming to you" (v44). Compassion coloured his lamentations over a doomed metropolis. The judgement was fair and furious, wrought by God. But it is never his preference. Charles Spurgeon somewhere depicts the reluctance of God as he issues his sentences of condemnation upon the guilty and perishing. He reads so accurately the heart of the dispenser of holy justice: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers chicks under her wings, but you were not willing(Matthew 23: 37). Colts and chicks are details that disclose great things about the Creator and Master of all being, time, and historical trends. "Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord".

The Rev. Roger Salter is an ordained Church of England minister where he had parishes in the dioceses of Bristol and Portsmouth before coming to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as Rector of St. Matthew's Anglican Church.

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